CHAPTER 15: CHAPTER 15; YOU DIDN’T WANT ME....

"Mommy... why... why didn’t you protect me...?"

Yueyao turned her head desperately towards the voice. A tiny child stood there, barefoot, wearing a simple white shirt soaked in blood. The little one’s face was blurred, but she could see those eyes, dark, innocent, full of tears.

"Mommy... it’s dark... I’m cold..."

"No... no, baby... Mommy’s here... Mommy’s here...!" she cried, reaching out with trembling hands, but the child only took a step back, shaking their small head.

"You didn’t want me... You didn’t protect me... You let me die..."

"NO!" Yueyao screamed, her hands grasping at empty air, her entire body trembling violently, "No... please... please don’t leave me... please...!"

But the child kept stepping back into the darkness, their tearful whisper echoing around her like a death sentence.

"You didn’t want me... You didn’t want me..."

She jolted awake with a strangled gasp.

Her chest heaved with ragged, painful breaths as tears streamed down her face, soaking into her pillow.

The room was dark except for the faint glow of the monitoring machines. Her surgical wounds throbbed sharply under the bandages with every tremor of her sobbing body.

She pressed her hands tightly against her face, muffling her broken cries as silent devastation consumed her entire being.

The next morning, she woke up feeling like her bones were made of lead.

Her abdomen ached dully beneath the gauze dressings, and her throat felt raw and dry. An IV line still ran into the back of her hand, dripping fluids into her fragile veins.

Aunt Mei sat beside her, gently wiping her face with a warm towel.

"You sweated a lot last night, Young Madam," she whispered with tender worry, "I guess you had nightmares, rest a bit longer. I will ask the nurse to prepare your breakfast soon."

Yueyao said nothing. She simply lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling as silent tears trickled down her temples into her hair.

Over the next five days, she remained in the hospital recovering.

The nurses changed her dressings twice daily, cleaned her surgical wounds with antiseptic solution, and adjusted her medication drips.

Each day, Aunt Mei came to accompany her, bringing fresh clothes, millet porridge, and bone broth to help her regain strength.

But neither Shen Xiao nor Shen Xuan came to visit her. Not once.

On the third day, her phone buzzed with a new message.

She blinked wearily at the notification, her hands trembling as she unlocked the screen.

There were several photos.

In one shot, Shen Xiao sat at an outdoor café, dressed in a tailored black suit, and beside him sat Bai Zhi, wearing a pastel pink dress, her hair cascading down her shoulders as she smiled sweetly at the camera.

Between them sat Shen Xuan, eating a strawberry parfait, his cheeks puffed out adorably as he grinned up at Bai Zhi.

His little hand rested on her wrist intimately, and she was leaning towards him, spoon-feeding him dessert.

Another photo showed them walking in the park. Bai Zhi held Shen Xuan’s hand while Shen Xiao walked slightly ahead, talking on his phone.

Bai Zhi was bending down, adjusting Shen Xuan’s cap, her eyes filled with gentle affection.

In the last photo, Shen Xuan sat on Bai Zhi’s lap on a bench.

She kissed his cheek as he giggled happily, clutching her arm tightly. Shen Xiao stood beside them, looking down at his son with a faint smile.